As most of you know, Chris and I have started the process of
becoming foster/adoptive parents. Many people have showed support with kind
words and prayers. We are so appreciative of all the love shown. In many
conversations, people have asked us why we decided to pursue this journey. My
hope is to share our answer through this post.
Ever since I was a young girl, I had a strong desire to take care of children without parents. I knew from a young age that fostering/adoption would be in my future. I don’t believe that having biological children is wrong in any way. I
think pregnancy is a beautiful gift from God. I do however, struggle with adoption typically being viewed as something only for people who struggle with infertility, or who have a "special call" from God. When we read scripture, everyone of us has a call to take care of orphans.
From the time Chris and I got married, we talked a lot about
adoption and the possibility of fostering. We were pretty broke our first year
of marriage and the thought of taking care of and providing for a child was
totally out of our mindset. I loved the idea of fostering, but a one bedroom
apartment wasn’t really going to cut it. I also struggled with a lot of “what
if’s.”
- What if my heart can’t handle it?
- What if it’s too hard on our relationship?
- How much sacrifice is this going to be on our marriage?
- How different is our schedule going to look?
I struggled with these thoughts and fears for a while. Once
I started to pray through them, I realized that they were all self-focused. The thing about
fostering is that it isn’t about us.
It is about children who are in despite need of someone to love on them,
provide shelter, food, and healthy connections. Chris and I truly believe in
our inner core that God calls everyone who is a believer to “care for the orphans.”
You can find several scriptures throughout the Bible that show how much God
cares for the fatherless. He calls us to care for them as well. Not to pity
them, or feel sorry for them, but to actually care for them.
Once Chris and I viewed this as an obedient act to God, it
became a lot less about us. It was really simple, actually. We now have a house, with extra bedrooms, a fridge full of food, and a lot of love to share. It simply became a question of why wouldn't we open our house to these children? God has blessed us with the resources we have and we simply want to bless others with them as well. Whether that is for one week, two
months, or forever. We believe that by doing this we are following a command
that Christ has given us.
Will there be hard days? Of course.
Will there be frustrations and tears? Of course.
Will it be hard to let go of a child you’ve loved on and not
be sure of what their future hold? Definitely.
Not all things that Christ call us to are easy, but we know
that it will be worth it. We hope that the kids that come through our house can
experience a love that they haven’t known before. That they feel safe and can
build a routine that helps them cope with the trauma they will inevitably be facing. If having them in our family helps even just one of them in their path
of life, it’s all worth it.
